The use of an interlink receiver for programming a telephone was first taught in McGregor, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,418, entitled, "Cellular Phone Accounting System", issued Jun. 28, 1995. In that patent, phones received from different manufacturers are programmed for use in a controlled environment. For example, in the situation where phones are programmed and activated for governmental use or organizational use in private companies, strict control over the programming procedure is maintained. Similarly, in the rental environment, the phones are programmed and tracked by the organization renting the phones enabling close operational control over the temporary use of the phone by a rental customer.
Although it was suggested that the procedures for programming, tracking and accounting described in the reference patent could be incorporated into central telephone systems, questions of security as well as inertia were predicted to inhibit broad application.
Additionally, where gang programming of multiple phones by manufacturers or service providers occurs, security can be controlled. A system for programming cellular phones in an interlink receiver with a gang platform is described in the continuation-in-part application of McGregor, et al, entitled, "Mobile Phone with Internal Call Accounting Controls," now U.S. Pat. No. 5,625,669, issued Apr. 29, 1997.
The significant problem of phone security is evident by the massive losses of carriers and service providers. The dramatic increase in wireless communication in the form of cellular telephone systems, cordless personal communication service devices, radio phones and other digital and analog systems that communicate over the airwaves has magnified the vulnerability to fraud. Frequency scanners and other interception devices have allowed access not only to the content of communications, but to the electronic serial numbers and access codes of the callers. Clone phones, that imitate a legitimate subscriber's phone, are fraudulently programmed to duplicate the codes of the legitimate phone and enable the user of the cloned phone to place calls that are billed to the authorized subscriber. Losses to wireless phone fraud are estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars per year.
As wireless phone distribution moves from the controlled environment of carriers and local service providers to general retailers, the programming and activation of wireless phones is accomplished remotely. Frequently, several entities may be involved behind the transfer of a wireless phone from the retailer to the user. The retailer will likely sell wireless phones from different manufacturers, and offer assignment of the phone to different service providers. The retailer may have available different credit or debit plans for payment of the phone and carrying or underwriting the service provider charges, enabling a new market for intermediaries.
The availability of many of these options is described in the patent of McGregor, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,100, entitled, "Mobile Phone with Internal Accounting" issued Nov. 19, 1996. In that application, convenient methods of remote programming and phone activation are described, including methods that can be accomplished over the airways. With the advent of this prospect, the question of the security of the programming procedure becomes critical.
It is a primary object of this invention to resolve the problems of secure programming and activation of wireless phones where all or part of the programming originates from a host computer at a site remote from the phone being programmed. While the description of the invention is primarily directed to the use of the more secure line connection between the interlink receiver and the host computer to minimize unauthorized intrusion, the interlink receiver system is designed to communicate in encrypted messages to enable the dialog for remote programming to be accomplished via a wireless communication path. In certain areas of the world, the existing hardwire infrastructure is nonexistent or unreliable. Remote programming and activation over the airways is therefore a necessity.
The object of this invention is to provide a device and process that maximizes the ability to remotely program a wireless phone in a secure manner.